Alarm control mechanism



Nov. 6, 1962 R. BOYLES 3,062,931

ALARM CONTROL MECHANISM Filed May 16, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 [)7 V6)? 6 or: Robert L. Egg/es,

HA A a: 6 0797554 Nov. 6, 1962 R. L. BOYLES 3,062,931

ALARM CONTROL MECHANISM Fil ed May 16, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 [)7 ven t or.- Fober' L. B 0 /es,

Patented Nov. 6, 1962 3,062,931 ALARM tIONTRQlL MECHANESM Robert L Boyles, Wayland, Mass., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed May 16, 196l,er.No. ris,s76 7 Claims. (Cl. 200-68) This invention relates to an alarm control mechanism, and more particularly to an improved control cam arrangement for an alarm clock.

In a co-pending application of Robert L. Boyles, Serial No. 605,032, now Patent No. 3,033,948, filed August 20, 1956, and assigned to the same assignee as the instant invention, there is disclosed an alarm clock including a time switch for controlling a radio and the like. As shown and described in the above mentioned application, manually rotatable knobs are provided for controlling the operation of the alarm clock. It is desirable to be able to control the switch and alarm by simply reciprocating a control knob and it is also especially desirable to provide an improved reliable control arrangement for such an alarm clock which may be manufactured at relatively low cost. This invention is concerned with such an improved alarm control mechanism and the inclusion of such a mechanism in an alarm clo r of the type disclosed in the above mentioned co-pending application.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide an improved low cost reliable alarm clock control arrangement. v

In accordance with one aspect of this invention, a unique control, cam member is provided with an integrally formed gear portion and cam portion, and is rotatably mounted between a front plate and the base plate of an alarm clock. A generally horizontal rotatable shaft is positioned adjacent to the control cam and is provided with a crown gear which is arranged in meshing engagement with the gear portion of the control cam. A manually operable lever is provided for rotating the hori zontal shaft. One end of the lever is fixed to the shaft while the other end thereof extends forwardly beyond the front plate. With this arrangement, the forwardly extending portion of the lever may be readily reciprocated in a generally vertical direction to cause corresponding movement of the crown gear and the alarm control cam. Accordingly, a very simple, yet effective arrangement for controlling an alarm clock by reciprocating a control knob is achieved.

Further objects and advantages of the invention as well as other modifications and uses thereof will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an alarm clock including the improved control cam arrangement;

FIG. 2 is a partial front elevational view of the alarm clock shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the alarm clock shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-section view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a time control device suitable for controlling operation of apparatus such as a radio receiver (not shown). This mechanism comprises a supporting structure including a base plate 1 and a front plate 2. spaced from plate 1 and arranged parallel thereto for supporting the clock mechanism. The clock is provided with hour, minute and second hands 3, 4 and 5, respectively, driven by a conventional timing device gear train.

The timing device may include any suitable form of timer motor, here shown as a self-starting synchronous motor 6, a field coil 7 of which is connected to a source of regulated frequency alternating current. A terminal shaft gear 8 extends through base plate 1 for driving the hands of the clock and the time switch and alarm mechanism.

In a conventional manner, minute hand gear 9 is connected to the timing device for driving minute hand 4 and hour hand gear 10 is suitably connected to the timing device for driving hour hand 3. A resilient magnetic vibrator 11 operated by leakage flux from the motor is arranged to have its free end portion 12 vibrate against a stator nut 13 and produce an audible alarm at all times when the motor is energized unless the vibrator is prevented from vibrating by a plural position lever 14 in a manner to be more fully described hereinafter.

A time set carn gear 15 having a projecting cam portion 16 located thereon is rotatably mounted on the supporting structure. The angular position of cam gear 15 may be manually adjusted in a conventional manner and a hand 17 may be connected to the cam gear 15 for rotation therewith in order to indicate the time setting of the cam gear 15. A cam surface 18 is also formed on hour hand gear 19. Gear it is rotatably mounted on the supporting structure as shown, and is axially movable to actuate the time switch and alarm in a manner to be hereinafter more fully described. In a manner known in the art, at the time set by cam gear 15, cam surfaces 18 and 16 cooperate with each other to move gear 10 axially away from cam gear 15. i

A two position switch 19 which may be utilized to control an apparatus such as a radio receiver is provided for actuation by the timing device illustrated in FIG. 1. As shown, the switch comprises a resilient movable switch blade 2@ provided with a contact 21 for cooperation with a fixed switch contact 22. Switch blade 20 is normally self-biased downwardly to the closed position with the movable contact Zl in abutting relation with the fixed contact 22, and an insulated plate 2 3 is provided for moving resilient blade 26 upwardly to open the switch.

An arrangement is provided for automatically moving switch blade 19 to the closed position and for automatically releasing alarm vibrator 11. This automatic means comprises a two-part lever arrangement including the lever 14 and a latch lever 24, both lever parts being pivoted on the same axis. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, lever 14 is fixed to a shaft 25 which is pivotally mounted in apertures formed in the front plate and the base plate. In order to loosely mount lever 24 on shaft 25 for movement in a plurality of directions, the shaft 25 is provided with a reduced portion 26, shown more particularly in FIG. 4, and the lever 24 is provided with an aperture 26' which is greater than the reduced portion of the shaft 25 but smaller than the major portion of the shaft. With this arrangement, lever 24 may be rotated in one direction or the other with respect to lever 14 about the axis of shaft 25, and in addition the lever 24 may be pivoted in an axial direction with respect to the shaft for a purpose to be more fully described hereinafter. As shown in FIG. 1, lever 14 is provided with an outwardly extending arm 27 for cooperating with insulated plate 23 to actuate the switch. An upper portion of arm 27 of the lever 14 is provided with a rearwardly extending lug 28 for cooperating with a forwardly extending lug 29 which may be formed on vibrator 11 in order to obstruct operation of the vibrator 11. Preferably, the parts are arranged so that upon clockwise rotation of lever 14, lever 14 first lifts the alarm vibrator 11 and then both vibrator 11 and switch actuator plate 23.

Latch lever 24 cooperates with the twelve hour cam gear 10 for automatically moving lever 14 in one direction to sequentially close the switch at a preset time, and

after the lapse of a predetermined time interval, permit operation of the alarm vibrator 11. As shown more particularly in FlG. 3, latch lever 24 is provided with a forwardly extending lug 31) for contacting a side portion of the axially movable cam gear 10. Thus, cam gear to may move the lower portion of latch lever 24 rearwardly at the preset time. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the lower portion of latch lever 24 is provided with a forwardly extending tab 31 having a plurality of steps 32 and 33 formed thereon for cooperating with the edges 32 and 33 respectively, of a hole 35 which may be cut in front pl te 2. With this arrangement, the steps and edges function as stops to prevent counterclockwise rotation of latch lever 24 about shaft 25.

A tension spring 36 is provided for urging latch lever 24 forwardly as viewed in FIG. 1 and for biasing a curved stop portion 38 of the latch lever into engagement with a stop lug 38 formed on the lever 14 so that the two lever parts 14 and 24 may act as a unit or as if made in one piece. To achieve this, one end of spring 36 may be connected to a tab 39 which is struck forwardly out of latch lever 24 while the other end of the spring is connected to the forwardly extending lug 38 fixed to the lever 14.

Referring now to FIG. 2, it can be seen that the spring 36 forces the curved stop portion 33 of latch lever 24 into engagement with lug 38 so that the latch lever 24 and lever 14 may rotate as a unit about the axis of shaft 25. it can also be seen that spring 36 pivots lever 24 forwardly about the reduced portion of lug 38 and pivot 26 to hold lug 3% in contact with a side surface of the twelve hour cam gear 10. Step 32 of the latch lever 24 cooperates with the edge 32' of hole 35 to prevent counterclockwise rotation of the latch, and spring 36 holds levers 14 and 24 together against the force of switch blade 19 and vibrator arm 11. Thus, lever 14 holds vibrator 11 above field nut 13 and also holds the switch contacts 21, 22 in the open position. As the time preset by cam gear 15 is approached cam surface 16 will engage cam surface 18 to slide cam gear 10 rearwardly, thereby pivoting latch lever 24 about pivot 26 and the reduced portion of lug 38 to allow the spring force of vibrator 11 and switch blade 20 to move latch lever 24 from step edge 32 to step edge 33'. During this movement, resilient switch blade 20 and resilient vibrator 11 rotate the arm 27 of articulated lever means 14 and 24 an increment in a counterclockwise direction. Thus, insulated switch actuator 23 is moved downwardly by the spring force of swich blade 20 until contact 21 abuts contact 22 to close the switch; however, such slight rotational movement of the articulated lever means 14, 24 does not move lug 28 downwardly far enough to enable the end portion 12 of vibrator 11 to contact field nut 13 to sound the alarm. Continued rotation of cam gear 10 will cause cam surface 18 to move further up on cam surface 16 in order to slide gear 10 still further rearwardly. Accordingly, latch lever 24 is pivoted about shaft and lug 38 far enough rearwardly so that step 33 becomes disengaged from the edge 33' of hole 35. This completely disengages latch lever 24- from hole 35 and therefore resilient vibrator 11 pivots lever means 14, 24 as a unit in a counterclockwise direction to lower lug 28 sufficiently far enough so that vibrator 12 may contact field nut 13 to thereby sound the audible alarm.

In accordance with the invention an arrangement is provided for selectively limiting motion of the articulated lever 14, 24 in one direction and for moving the lever 14, 24 in another direction in order to select the desired operation of the alarm clock. As shown more particularly in FIG. 1, this arrangement comprises a uniquely formed control cam 37. The cam is preferably formed of plastic or other suitable moldable material and is there fore relatively inexpensive to manufacture. The cam comprises a shaft portion 4t), a generally radially extending cam lug portion 41 for cooperating with lever 24 and a sector gear portion 42. As shown, the shaft of the cam is formed with reduced end portions 43 and 44 for inexpensively mounting the cam between front plate 2. and base plate 1 in circular apertures 45 and 45' which may be formed in the base plate and the front plate, respectively.

A readily formed arrangement is provided for selectively holding the control cam 37 in any one of a plurality of adjustable positions. To achieve this, two projections 47 and 48 are formed on the base plate and are arranged for cooperation with the rear portion of the radially extending portion 41 of the cam member. Preferably, the projections are semi-spherical in shape and are inexpensively stamped in the base plate 1. A spring 49 is positioned between the front plate 2 and a flange 50 which is integrally formed on the unique cam member 37 for resiliently urging the radially extending cam portion 41 toward the base plate 1. Thus, as the cam is rotated, cam portion 41 may slide over the projections to axially reciprocate the cam against the force of spring 49, and when the cam is released spring 49 causes the cam portion 41 to assume a position above, below or between the projections 47 and 48.

A unique arrangement is provided for rotating cam 37 to any one of its plurality of adjustable positions by simply vertically reciprocating a control button. As shown more particularly in FIGS. 1 and 3 this arrangement includes a button 51 which is vertically reciprocable to any one of the three positions shown in 1 16. 2, namely, Auto Switch and Alarm, Auto Switch, and Auto Off. The button 51 is fixed to a lever 52 which is connected to a generally horizontal shaft 53 for causing rotation thereof. As shown more particularly in FIG. 3, the end portions of the front pltae 2 are bent rearwardly in a direction generally perpendicular to the major portion of the front plate to provide side walls 54 and an enlarged opening is formed in the front plate for permitting lever 52 to extend therethrough. With this arrangement, the horizontal shaft 53 may be conveniently mounted between the right side wall 54 and a rearwardly extending post 55 which is fixed to the base plate 1 in opposed apertures 56 and 57 which may be formed in the side wall and post, respectively. A crown gear 58 is fixed to one end of the horizontal shaft 53 and is arranged in meshing engagement with the gear portion 42 of the unique cam 37 for causing rotation of the control cam 37 upon vertical reciprocation of button 51. The gearing between the cam portion 41 of the improved control cam and the button 51 is such that when the button is in the Auto Switch and Alarm position the end portion of cam 41 is located below projection 43, when the button 51 is in the Auto Switch position the end portion of cam 41 is located between projections 47 and 48, and when button 51 is in the Auto Off position the end portion of cam 41 is located above projection 47.

Referring now to FIG. 1, when the button 5'1 is in the Auto Off position, the cam portion 41 of the improved control cam is in the position shown in engagement with a surface of latch lever 24, and when the lever 24 is held in this position spring 36 will normally hold lever 14 so that the contact 21 and 22 are spaced from each other and the vibrator 11 is spaced from field nut 13 to prevent the vibrator from sounding.

When button 51 is reciprocated upwardly to the Auto Switc position, cam portion 41 moves downwardly to permit the articulated lever 14, 24 to rotate sufficiently in a counterclockwise direction under the influence of the spring force of vibrator 11 and switch blade 19 to close the switch contacts 21, 22; however, it does not permit the lever 14, 24 to be rotated far enough in this direction to allow the end of vibrator 11 to contact field nut 13. Accordingly, when button 51 is in the Auto Switch position the timing device gear 161 may move latch lever 24 from step edge 32' to step edge 33 to close switch contacts 21, 22 but cam projection 41 will prevent rotation of the latch lever 24 to the vibrator sounding position. When the button 51 is reciprocated upwardly to the Auto Switchand Alarm position, the cam portion 41 is rotated downwardly far enough to allow both the switch 21, 22 and the alarm 12, 13 to be automatically actuated at preset times by the cam gear 10, steps 32 and 33, and the related parts of this movement.

From the foregoing description it will be appreciated that the improved arrangement for controlling a time switch and alarm by reciprocating a control knob com prises a relatively few number of parts which may be inexpensively manufactured. Further, the uniquely shaped control cam 37 may be easily formed in a molding operation and the cooperation of the molded plastic cam portion 41 with projections 47, 48 and spring 49 provides a very effective positive acting detent arrangement. Thus, an exceedingly simple and reliable control cam arrangement is achieved.

While there has been shown and described a particular embodiment of this invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications can be made therein wtihout departing from the invention, and therefore, it is aimed in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications that fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. An alarm clock comprising a timing mechanism, a base plate, a front plate spaced from said base plate and arranged generally parallel thereto, an integrally formed control cam member rotatably mounted between said front plate and said base plate for controlling operation of the alarm, a gear integrally formed on said control cam member, a generally horizontal shaft, a crown gear fixed to one end of said shaft and arranged in meshing engagement with said gear, a manually operable lever, one end of said lever being fixed to said shaft and the other end thereof being positioned with respect to said front plate such that reciprocation of the other end of said lever will cause corresponding movement of said crown gear and said control cam.

2. In an alarm clock comprising a timing mechanism, an audible alarm vibrator and a switch, a base plate, a front plate spaced from said base plate and arranged generally parallel thereto, an integrally formed cam member rotatably mounted between said front plate and said base plate for controlling operation of said alarm and said switch, a plurality of projection formed on said base plate extending toward said front plate for moving said cam means axially toward said front plate upon rotation thereof, spring means for urging said cam means toward said projections, and sector gear means integrally formed on said cam member and manually operable means cooperating with said sector gear for rotating said cam member.

3. In a timing device, an audible alarm vibrator, a switch, a plural position lever for actuating said switch and for obstructing operation of said alarm vibrator, means driven by said timing device for automatically moving said lever in one direction to sequentially close said switch at a preset time and after the lapse of a predetermined time interval permit operation of said alarm vibrator, a base plate, a front plate spaced from said base plate and arranged generally parallel thereto, circular apertures formed in said front plate and said base plate, an integrally formed rotatable cam member positioned adjacent to said lever for selectively limiting motion of said lever in said one direction, said cam member being mounted between said plates and having portions thereof extending through said apertures, a plurality of projections formed on said base plate extending from said base plate toward said front plate, flange means formed on said cam member, a spring positioned between said flange means and said front plate for urging said cam member toward said base plate and said projections, sector gear means integrally formed on said cam member, and manually operable means cooperating with b said sector gear for rotating said cam to control operation of said plural position lever.

4. An alarm clock comprising a timing mechanism, a base plate, a front plate spaced from said base plate and arranged generally parallel thereto, an integrally formed control cam member rotatably mounted between said front plate and said base plate for controlling operation of the alarm, a gear integrally formed on said control cam member, a rearwardly extending post fixed to said base plate, a portion of said front plate being bent rearwardly in a direction generally perpendicular to said front plate to provide a side wall, a generally horizontal shaft rotatably mounted between said side wall and said post, a crown gear fixed to one end of said shaft in meshing engagement with said sector gear, a manually operable lever, one end of said lever being fixed to said shaft and the other end thereof being positioned with respect to said front plate such that reciprocation of the other end of said lever in a generally vertical direction will cause corresponding movement of said crown gear and said cam member.

5. In an alarm clock comprising a timing mechanism, an audible alarm vibrator and a switch, a base plate, a front plate spaced from said base plate and arranged generally parallel thereto, an integrally formed cam member rotatably mounted between said front plate and said base plate for controlling operation of said alarm and said switch, a plurality of projections formed on said base plate extending toward said front plate for moving said cam member axially toward said front plate upon rotation thereof, spring means for urging said cam member toward said projections, sector gear means integrally formed on said cam means, a.rearwardly extending post fixed to said base plate, a portion of said front plate being bent rearwardly in a direction generally perpendicular to said front plate to provide a side wall, a generally horizontal shaft rotatably mounted between said side wall and said post, a crown gear fixed to one end of said shaft in meshing engagement with said sector gear and a manually operable lever fixed to the other end of said shaft whereby movement of said manually operable lever in a generally vertical direction will cause corresponding movement of said crown gear and said cam member 6. In an alarm clock comprising a timing mechanism, an audible alarm vibrator and a switch, a base plate, a front plate spaced from said base plate and arranged generally parallel thereto, an integrally formed cam member rotatably mounted between said front plate and said base plate for controlling operation of said alarm and said switch, a plurality of projections formed on said base plate extending toward said front plate for moving said cam means axially toward said front plate upon rotation thereof, spring means for urging said cam member toward said projections, sector gear means integrally formed on said cam member for permitting rotation thereof, a rearwardly extending post fixed to said base plate, a portion of said front plate being bent rearwardly in a direction generally perpendicular to said front plate to provide a side wall, a generally horizontal shaft rotatably mounted between said side wall and said post, a crown gear fixed to one end of said shaft in meshing engagement with said sector gear, an enlarged opening formed in said front plate, and a manually operable lever fixed to the other end of said shaft and extending through said opening whereby movement of said manually operable lever in a generally vertical direction will cause corresponding movement of said crown gear and said control cam.

7. In a timing device, an audible alarm vibrator, a switch, a plural position lever for actuating said switch and for obstructing operation of said alarm vibrator, means driven by said timing device for automatically moving said lever in one direction to sequentially close said switch at a preset time and after the lapse of a 7 predetermined time interval to permit operation of said alarm vibrator, a rotatable plural position control cam located adjacent to said lever for selectively limiting motion of said lever in said one direction and for moving said lever in an opposite direction such that in a first angular position of said control cam said lever is stopped to prevent operation of said switch and vibrator, in a second angular position of said control cam the means driven by the timing device automatically moves the lever to close the switch but the cam stops further movement of said lever to thereby prevent operation of the alarm, and in a third angular position of said control cam the timing mechanism automatically moves said lever to sequentially close said switch and permit operation of said alarm vibrator, a sector gear integrally formed on said rotatable control cam, a generally horizontal shaft, a crown gear fixed to one end of said shaft in meshing engagement with said sector gear, a manually operable lever fixed to the other end of said shaft whereby movement of said manually operable lever in a generally vertical direction will cause corresponding movement of said crown gear and said control cam.

No References Cited. 

